Simple Smoked Beef Short Ribs

This simple recipe did not take the blue ribbon at any barbecue contest. It did come in third—by 2 points…in the Anything Butt Brisket category. In that category, you could barbecue anything but brisket and sirloin. Chef Paul chose to do beef short ribs, and almost everybody said he didn't have a chance of winning or even placing because he was going up against beef tenderloin, rib-eyes, T-bones, and porterhouse steaks. What did they know?!

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Preparation

Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and outline the bones with a sharp, pointed paring knife. Combine all the ingredients for the mustard slather in a small bowl and blend well. Brush the slather over the entire surface of the ribs.

Combine all the ingredients for the rub in a small bowl and blend well. Sprinkle the rub over the slathered ribs.

Heat a cooker to 230° to 250°F. Oil the rack and place the ribs on it bone side down over indirect heat. Cover and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Turn and cook for 45 minutes more, then turn and cook for another 45 minutes, or until the ribs reach 185°F on a meat thermometer.

Transfer the ribs to a cutting board and let them rest, covered loosely with aluminum foil, for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut the ribs into individual pieces and serve with barbecue sauce.

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Recent Reviews

Way too salty! I made this yesterday, and while the cooking time was fairly accurate the flavor profile was not what I expected. The soy, ginger, and garlic were completely lost. The only flavor that remained was a slight mustardy taste and salt, a lot of salt. The good news: that big beefy flavor was not lost, and some of the racks were fall off the bone tender. I ended up spritzing with water to try to rinse and glazing with honey which did cut some of the saltiness. Smoking short ribs again? Absolutely. But not with this recipe.

wolfenjack from Vermont by way of Memphis /

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Fantastic! I use Gulden's spicy brown mustard because I never have plain yellow mustard in the house. Also had to add some pickled okra juice to the dill pickle juice to get the 1/4 cup one time - no problem - still awesome. This recipe is a winner. Tastes great w/ baby back pork ribs too. We've used the rub sans slather on chicken - also tastes great.

hollybygolly from Atlanta, GA /

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Another version of these is with a soak
in a red wine marinade and smoking in a
real wood chip smoker.

A Cook from Lehigh Valley, PA /

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I see other readers were perturbed
by the reference to a "cooker". A
cooker is simply a barbecue grill, usually with the ability to use wood chips.
Chef Paul kindly provided
the recipe in the context of a BBQ
competition so I assumed he used wood chips!
I tried the recipe and was amazed at
how easy it was to prep the slather
and the rub. I used a new charcoal
grill and had trouble keeping it at
such low temps. Still, the ribs
turned out delicious and I encourage
you to give it a try!

A Cook from Park City, UT /

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These look great, but I don't have a cooker. Can these be made in the oven?